Gold Medal Coach

Desert Ruins was a five star difficulty map.

From the background introduction, this was once an oasis when humans lived in the desert. Later, there was the rapid spread of sand and the oasis was flooded by yellow sand, leaving only some broken ruins.

The ruins of a small town in the desert were desolate and dilapidated. During the competition, players could hide behind this dilapidated building. Every once in a while, there would be a wave of sandstorms that blurred the vision of players. This was equivalent to a pure ‘full map smoke bomb.’ In addition, the howling wind of the desert would affect their hearing.

The foundation of the desert wasn’t stable enough and all the buildings on the map were likely to collapse if bombed. The combination of various factors made this map a ‘nightmare mode’ in the five star difficulty map, which hardly appeared in the professional league. There were too many uncertainties and it was difficult to play.

In the Desert Ruins map, each team was limited to five grenades. However, the training software of the national team didn’t have these rules. There were ten grenades that fell randomly on the map. This was double the normal difficulty in a competition.

In addition, in the usual game, grenades weren’t thrown from all directions. Now the grenades of the training software appeared randomly.

Once Ye Qingming was blown up three times in a row and buried twice, he sighed helplessly. “This isn’t scientific at all. How can there be ten grenades thrown together in a game to blow up people?”

Pei Feng seriously analyzed it. “Increase the difficulty during training and it will be easy to dodge in the official competition.”

“This is true but increasing the difficulty doesn’t mean putting the daily training into hell mode, right?” Ye Qingming gently rubbed his temples. “I must pass level eight today.”

Next, Pei Feng, Lao Lin, Xiao Zhou and Shu Chen had received the devil training of the ACE team. They quickly adapted to the rhythm of the new software and successively passed Rainy Night of level seven. They came to level eight and continued to be tortured by the sandstorm.

Liu Shaozhou’s reaction speed was extremely fast. He had rich experience in the competition and he quickly cleared the level smoothly.

Qin Xueyao was a scout. Her positioning was flexible and she was very good at dodging enemy fire. After adjusting to the dim light of the Rainy Night map and the sound of the rainstorm, she dodged as quickly as possible and finally reached the finish line without injury.

Shi Xiaobin’s mastery of the map was excellent and he quickly passed level seven.

Mo Hantian and Xia Li fumbled for a while before finally passing with difficulty.

In the end, only Hua Ran was repeatedly blown up in the rainy night.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, Jiang Shaoyu sat in the office, opened the management screen and looked at everyone’s training interfaces. Ten of the 11 people had cleared the level. Hua Ran was the only one still on level seven.

He licked on Hua Ran’s avatar and Hua Ran’s computer interface was enlarged on the screen.

He saw Hua Ran hiding behind a building at the fork and looking left and right. There was a loud ‘boom’ from the right and the light from the grenade explosion illuminated the screen. Hua Ran immediately rushed in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, he had just rushed into a narrow alley when a grenade rolled over. He had nowhere to hide and was directly blown up!

Hua Ran scratched his head and told Shu Chen with a smile, “Brother Chen, this level is like a parkour game. If only there was no limit on the number of grenades in the game. I could blow them up into a pile of mashed meat!”

He went on to say, “The black grenade is hard to see clearly. It would be nice if it was replaced with a colorful one.”

Shu Chen was wearing headphones and didn’t hear him speaking.

Hua Ran talked for a while before finding that Brother Chen wasn’t responding. Thus, he had to press ‘continue’ to start the training again.

After being blown up for another two rounds, a cold voice suddenly came from Hua Ran’s earphones. “Hua Ran, you are the only one left who hasn’t passed level seven. What are you doing? You have been blown to death again and again. Don’t you know how to sum up your experience?”

Hua Ran was taken aback.

Why did Coach Jiang’s voice suddenly come from his headphones? Was he hallucinating?

Seeing that the young man couldn’t react for a while, Jiang Shaoyu coldly told him, “Come to the office on the third floor to find me.”

It was only then that Hua Ran came back to his senses. He paused the interface, turned and walked out the door.

Ye Qingming’s position was relatively close to the door of the training room. The moment he saw Hua Ran walk out the door, he couldn’t help gloating toward Pei Feng. “The first victim has been called.”

Pei Feng coughed lightly. “Hua Ran isn’t a professional player at all and his foundation isn’t solid enough.”

They were professional players who sat in front of a computer and trained every day. For them, daily training was as common as eating. Once the training mode was changed, they could adapt quickly even if it was more difficult.

Meanwhile, Hua Ran was different. He was a passerby king who emerged in the Rising Stars Cup with his outstanding talent and special style. However, his foundation was the worst of all of them.

This was the difference between a ‘professional’ and an ‘amateur.’

During this period of time in the national team, Pei Feng had taken him to train and he had been using the old version of the training software. This was much simpler than the new version. Hua Ran had adapted to the old version and his acceptance of the new version wasn’t so high.

He was the first to be picked by Master to get a lecture. This had been expected by Pei Feng.

In the meeting room on the third floor, Jiang Shaoyu had a pot of tea on the table. He drank tea while watching a video.

As Hua Ran walked into the office, he was very touched as he thought, ‘Coach Jiang is really serious and responsible. He pays close attention to the players at all times. He found that I haven’t cleared the level and he wants to tutor me alone!’

The coach who opened a small tutoring class for ‘poor students’ was even gentler than the class teacher in high school.

With such thoughts, Hua Ran knocked on the door of the office and smiled brightly. “Coach Jiang.”

Jiang Shaoyu said with an expressionless face, “Come and see the video of your training.”

Hua Ran walked over quickly. He stood next to Jiang Shaoyu and looked at the video recording on the big computer screen.

Jiang Shaoyu’s computer could directly log into the training software with his administrator rights. There were two monitors connected to the host computer, which could split the screen at any time.

At this time, the screen on the left was showing the avatars of the team members and the corresponding small screen. The training interface of the team members was being displayed in real time in a small box of around 10 centimeters, which was as advanced as a police surveillance video.

On the split screen on the right, Hua Ran’s computer interface was enlarged. Jiang Shaoyu clicked ‘play back the video.’ Then it showed the clips of Hua Ran being blown up in previous rounds.

The first time, he was killed by a grenade rolling from the left in a narrow alley.

The second time, he was blown away by a grenade behind him…

Hua Ran saw the tragic picture of his repeated deaths and was a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head and asked, “Coach, am I very weak?”

He thought Coach Jiang would gently comfort him and say, ‘It doesn’t matter. You are a newcomer after all. There is room for improvement. Slowly improve. I will come to you to tutor you alone.’

He was just thinking this when he heard Jiang Shaoyu say coldly, “You also know that you are very weak?”

Hua Ran: “……?”

Why did this seem wrong?

Jiang Shaoyu looked back at him and said mercilessly, “Other players can pass level seven but you are still stuck on this Rainy Night level. Do you have no sense of nervousness?”

“You aren’t an e-sports player. You have a poor foundation and weak adaptability. I can understand this. However, has your attitude been serious and rigorous?”

“What do you think the national team is? You chat with people while training. You are constantly blown up but don’t know how to summarize and reflect on your mistakes. You just giggle and make jokes! Are you on a trip to the national team?”

“In the future, when you are participating in the World Series and you are blown up, will you walk over and tell your opponent to change to a grenade with colorful light effects when blowing you up?”

“Every day, you only care about the gaudy skins. This is a shooting game, not a dress-up game! Do you really have the self-consciousness of being a professional player?”

Hua Ran was scolded and looked at the ‘gentle’ Coach Jiang in front of him in a stunned manner.

Jiang Shaoyu’s eyes were sharp and his voice was frighteningly cold. “I selected you to join the team because of your talent, But don’t forget, everyone in the team is very talented. There are people whose talents are much higher than yours and they all work harder than you. What right do you have to slack off her?”

Hua Ran realized that Coach Jiang was really angry and immediately lowered his head. He said in a trembling manner, “I-I’m sorry. I’ve never practiced on this Rainy Night map. The light is too dark and I’m not very comfortable…”

Jiang Shaoyu said, “I know you like fancy light effects and colorful maps. However, the competition won’t be based on your personal preferences. In the future, what will you say if this map appears in the World Competition? The light is too dark and ask the referee to brighten it up for you?”

Hua Ran: “……”

“Since you have entered the national team, you are representing the highest level of China’s Gun King e-sports players when walking out the door. You are so casual, smiling and not serious. Won’t it be shameful when you go abroad in the future?”

“The national team has started the training camp and you should show the attitude of a professional player. Look at him, how many times have you died consecutively on a single map? Have you summed up your experience? What have you been doing?”

Hua Ran was red-faced from being scolded by Coach Jiang and couldn’t refute it at all.

He had been the proud darling of his parents since he was a child. He had good family conditions, good grades in school and an outstanding talent in art. He won numerous awards at a young age and was successfully admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts of the Imperial Capital Colleague.

After arriving at college, he made a lot of friends due to his warm and cheerful personality and became the president of a game legion. Every time he took his classmates to rank, everyone would praise him as ‘Hua Hua is handsome’ and ‘Hua Hua is awesome!’

From childhood to adulthood, he had experienced a smooth ride and suffered few setbacks.

This was the first time someone had scolded him like this?

Hua Ran’s mind was buzzing and he didn’t know what expression to make.

“Go and do a careful review. Summarize the characteristics of the map. I will give you another two hours to pass level seven. Remember, you are a professional player of the national team, not a random player who plays the rankings and doesn’t care about winning or losing!”

Jiang Shaoyu looked at the confused young man and raised an eyebrow. “Did you hear clearly?”

Hua Ran grabbed his purple hair and replied in a trembling manner, “I-I know.”

Jiang Shaoyu added, “Write a 1,000 word self-criticism tonight. Reflect well and correct your attitude. Give it to me tomorrow before lunch.”

Hua Ran’s eyes widened. “Huh? A self-criticism? I’ve never written a self-criticism before…”

“Then start today and learn how to write it.”

Hua Ran: “……”

Hua Ran was still dizzy as he walked out of the office.

Was Coach Jiang possessed by some type of monster? What about his gentle Coach Jiang?

Hua Ran, who was scolded and ordered to write a self-criticism, wanted to perform the ‘cracked’ meme on the spot.

After returning to the training room, the players noticed his departure and looked up at him. Ye Qingming gloated. “The first victim is back.”

Hua Ran: “……”

Did he expect this? No wonder why he always felt that Ye Zi and Fred were as serious as playing the World Series when facing the training software.

This was the reason!

In the corner, Qin Xueyao was curious and she asked Xia Li sitting next to her in a low voice, “What does it mean to be a victim?”

Xia Li scratched her head. “I can’t explain it either. Once it is your turn then you will understand.”

Qin Xueyao immediately sat up straight and stared intently at the screen to continue training.

Hua Ran returned to his seat and looked at the computer in a dejected manner. Then he cheekily pulled at a corner of Shu Chen’s clothes and said in an aggrieved manner, “Brother Chen, how can I pass this map? Please teach me.”

Shu Chen was afraid and stammered, “I-I… I’ll write it out for you.”

He didn’t speak much and was nervous when speaking, but there were no obstacles when typing.

Shu Chen sorted out his thoughts. He quickly set up a private chat and sent it to Hua Ran. “The Rainy Night map is dimly lit and it is difficult to distinguish with the eyes. You can only rely on listening. Turn the sound of the headphones to the maximum. The rainstorm will mask the sound of grenades rolling down, but if you listen carefully, you can still hear a faint sound. There is a two second delay with the explosion of a grenade. Once you hear a movement, immediately run to an open space. Don’t run to an alley since there is nowhere to hide. Try this a few times and you will get it.”

Hua Ran said gratefully, “Thank you, Brother Chen.”

Hua Ran opened the training software again and took a deep breath. His face became serious. Coach Jiang scolded him correctly. He was indeed a bit careless. He was now a player of the national team and couldn’t hold them back.

According to Shu Chen’s ‘strategy’, Hua Ran carefully listened to the movements around him. He tried several times and finally successfully passed level seven at 5 o’clock.

Immediately after, the difficulty of level eight almost made Hua Ran vomit blood.

The noise of the wind in the desert, the impact of the sandstorm, the collapsed buildings… was the difficulty of a five star map so high?

After returning to the dormitory at night, Hua Ran sat down on the sofa in a dejected manner. He picked up his phone and searched for ‘how to write a self-criticism’. It was just in time to see a private message from a good friend. “Hua Hua, how are you doing in the national team? You said before that the national team is heaven. You must’ve been happy after these days of training, right?”

Hua Ran: “…Happy?”

Hua Ran: “Why did I have to go to the national team?”

Hua Ran: I’m really cracked!”